U11Bs v Belhaven

On a day that the weather couldn't seem to make up its mind, St. Mary's travelled to Belhaven with a team of 6, to be made up to 10 with Belhaven kindly lending us four players. Upon reaching Belhaven it was decided that the game would be split into thirds to allow the continual switching of Belhaven players in the St. Mary's team.

The game began with a downpour in terms of weather and a stalemate within the game. Both sides attacked well, especially good to see was some great linking play from St. Melhaven through Mitchell and Archie that sent Ollie on quite a few runs up the touchline, but they lacked the clinical edge to score points. With balls being dropped and passes awry, it looked unlikely that the first third was going to see any points at all! However in the dying minutes, a couple of missed tackles led to Belhaven being able to touch down. This seemed trigger something in the St. Melhaven handling which meant they kept hold of the ball and with this it allowed Callum, on the end of a great passage of play, to barge his way over the line.

The second third started a lot better than first had gone, with Ed showing some great determination to secure ball in the rucks, and with quick ball and some good hands from Callum, we really started to challenge the Belhaven defence. This led to good finishes from two of the Belhaven boys in quick succession, and with this St. Melhaven were on the scoresheet again. However this sort of play was short lived as the boys once again managed to make it across the Belhaven 5m line, yet, unlike the last couple of times, the ball turned to a bar of soap and it was lost! This allowed Belhaven to make some big territorial gains and with a slightly disorganised defensive line St. Melhaven conceded a try in the corner. This made the score 4-2 to Belhaven.

Going into the final third, St. Melhaven looked like they had enough to make it a tough fight for Belhaven to take the victory. This was certainly the case as the boys once again were running some great lines through the defence, and with the last pass finding its way to the grass it seemed luck was definitely not on their side! This allowed Belhaven to gain back possession and score once again. However, St. Melhaven did not give up, and with Alex getting firmly stuck in to his tackles as well as in and about the ruck, possession from the ruck was won back by St. Melhaven who then managed to pick up the ball and with a great turn of pace by one of the Belhaven boys, they got one final score, making the final score 5-4 to Belhaven!

There were some great passages of play, however it's the final pass or tackle that seems to just either stop the boys from scoring or allow them to stop the opposition from scoring! I cannot however, fault their effort, so well done to everyone involved, and thanks to those Belhaven players once again!